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Honored with Appreciation Award in Fairfax County, VA

On November 2, bicycle advocates in Fairfax County, Virginia came together for the second Fairfax Bike Summit hosted by the Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling (FABB). The discussion focused on Tysons Corner, a rapidly redeveloping portion of the county that is reinventing itself as a multimodal neighborhood.

I was honored to be presented with the FABB Appreciation Award for my work on Safe Routes to School in the county. I am really proud to be part of the movement in this county. And while my name is on the award, my work is supported by a group of dedicated advocates and parents who work tirelessly to ensure kids can safely walk and bicycle to school and in their community. The school system, the 11th largest in the country, recently furthered their support of Safe Routes to School with a successful grant application for a Safe Routes to School coordinator. The momentum is moving forward quickly and I thank the Fairfax community for embracing Safe Routes to School.

And as I could still feel the excitement from the honor, I attended a session and met third-grader Aurora Eddy. She reminded me that even when the going gets tough, this is why I do what I do. She pedals the five miles to school each day with her mom, Kristin, and little brother, Embry, who is in kindergarten. They have a saying in their house: "there is no bad weather, just bad gear."

Aurora Eddy, third grader, presents on riding her bike to school. Photo by Jeff Anderson.

Aurora was on a panel about bicycling to school and riding with kids. She let us know that bicycling gets her places in a really fun way, that sometimes you see a very cool bug on the way to school, that riding up hills makes her feel big and strong and that there should be a bike center near the school so the kids that bicycle can meet up and hang out. Her final message was to parents: show the kids that you care about what they are doing when they are learning to ride a bike, and they will be more into riding a bike.

When I accepted my award, Jeff Anderson, parent and Safe Routes to School coordinator, made me promise to never drive my son to school. And to Aurora, I promise that when he starts to ride a bike, I will show him that I care so he can find cool bugs on the way to school too.